ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution using naturalJordanian zeolite

Yazan Taamneh1 • Suhail Sharadqah2

Received: 27 November 2015 / Accepted: 14 January 2016 / Published online: 2 February 2016

� The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract In this article, the adsorption process of cad-

mium and copper using natural Jordanian (NJ) zeolite as

adsorbent has been experimentally estimated. The samples

of NJ zeolite were obtained from Al Mafraq discrete, north

east of Jordan. The influence of the bulk concentration

(Co), contact time (t) and different adsorbent masses (m) of

NJ zeolite on the removal of heavy metal were evaluated.

These variables had a considerable function in promoting

the sorption process of heavy metal using the NJ zeolite.

The initial concentration of heavy metals in the stock

solution was extended between 80 and 600 mg/L. The

batch adsorption method was employed to investigate the

adsorption process. The experimental data were correlated

using Freundlich and Langmuir empirical formula. The

ability of NJ zeolite to eliminate cadmium and copper was

estimated according to Langmuir isotherm empirical for-

mula and found 25.9 and 14.3 mg/g for cadmium and

copper, respectively. The kinetics of adsorption of cad-

mium and copper have been analyzed and correlated by

first-order and second-order reaction model. It was noticed

that adsorption of cadmium and copper was better corre-

lated with pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results

presented that NJ zeolite is practical adsorbent for

removing cadmium and copper ion metal.

Keywords NJ zeolite � Batch process � Cadmium �Copper � Isotherm � Kinetic

Introduction

The major industrial sources impact the environment as a

result of producing heavy metals. The existence of heavy

metals in wastewater due to many manufacturing processes

is a legalized problem worldwide. The most common

sources of heavy metals obtained from surface finishing

processes as well as industrial products that ends up in

wastewater (Hui et al. 2005; Karvelas et al. 2003; Ahlu-

walia 2007). Removing heavy metals from industrial

wastewater required high energy or special operational

requirements. Several techniques such as adsorption,

extraction, disambiguation, clotting, ion-exchange, and

membrane processes are supposed for the handling of

wastewater pollution (Babel and Kurniawan 2003a; Wang

and Peng 2010a; Kwon et al. 2010). Adsorption method

form an appropriate method for wastewater handling

because of its cost effectiveness and simplicity, among all

these methods (Gupta et al. 2006; Ali 2012; Yadanaparthi

et al. 2009; Argun 2008; Rashed 2011).

Regardless of the effectiveness of activated carbon for

prevailing the metal ions load, particular attention have

been drawn by several inspector to the common adsorbents

like silica, sand, activated alumina, clays, and natural

zeolite for their relatively low costs and natural charac-

teristics (Panayotova 2001; Bailey et al. 1999; Babel and

Kurniawan 2003b). Actually, zeolite gains progressive

attraction of many investigator because of its special

characteristic such as ion exchange capacity, hydration-

dehydration, and adsorption (Caputo and Pepe 2007; Wang

and Peng 2010b; Zhang 2006).

& Yazan Taamneh

ymtaamneh@just.edu.jo

1 Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Jordan University

of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110,

Jordan

2 Department of Natural Resources and Chemical Engineering,

Tafila Technical University, P.O. Box 179, Tafila 66110,

Jordan

123

Appl Water Sci (2017) 7:2021–2028

DOI 10.1007/s13201-016-0382-7

Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals of alkali or alka-

line earth metal which contains crystal water. Zeolites

consist of three-dimensional networks of aluminate and

silicone dioxide tetrahedral linked by partnership of all

oxygen atoms. The voids make up from 20 to 50 % of the

total crystal volume of most zeolites. (Mumpton 1978,

1996; Gottardi 1978). For wastewater treatment, the most

important properties of natural zeolite are cation exchange

capacity and ion selectivity (Colella 1996).

Removing of heavy metal by natural zeolites with

respect to Co2?, Cu2?, Zn2?, and Mn2? were studied by

Erdem et al. (2004). The study achieved using batch pro-

cess technique and the effect of varying the initial heavy

metal concentration also considered. They concluded that

the adsorption process rely on bulk density and size of

hydrated ion. The selectivity succession of metal ionic

according to their equilibrium studies was specified like

Co2?[Cu2?[Zn2?[Mn2?.

Loizidou and Townsend (1987) indicated that natural

zeolite is able to eliminate some of heavy metals effec-

tively from industrial wastewater. The ability of the zeolite

to be regenerated is an important issue that must be well

considered together with the other relevant properties such

as its selectivity to eliminate heavy metals toxicity from

aqueous solutions.

There are a large number of processes that have been

improved and used over the years to eliminate dissolved of

cadmium and copper in industrial wastewater treatment

using clotting, adsorption, ion exchange, extraction, etc.

(Lewinsky 2006; Blocher et al. 2003; Izanloo and Nasseri

2005; Dhaba and Hussein 2014). This conventional tech-

nique is often neither effective nor economically especially

when the cadmium and copper ion metal are presented at

relatively low concentration.

Recently, Rao et al. (2005) evaluated the sorption pro-

cess for cadmium and copper from aqueous solutions using

activated coal. The effect of initial heavy metal load,

adsorbent mass, and time contacting on adsorption ability

were estimated. They analyzed and correlated the experi-

mental data according to both Freundlich and Langmuir

model. The highest uptake of copper and cadmium was

found to be 20 mg/g for cadmium and copper. The maxi-

mum uptake capacities of cadmium and copper were 88

and 90 %, respectively.

Zeolite was reported for the first time in Jebel Aritain

discrete (Jordan) in 1987. Since that, various studies have

been carried out to inspect the genesis applicability of NJ

zeolites in different applications such as, water treatment,

agriculture, water filter and the environmental protection

(Dwiri 1987; Sharadqah and Al-Dwairi 2010).

The capability of Jordanian zeolite was studied by

Marashdeh et al. (2009), to eliminate heavy metals (Cr and

Cd from electroplating wastewater). Batch and continues

packed column experiments were used for sorption of

metal in their single and binary solution. The bulk con-

centration of Cd2? and Cr3? ranged from 50 to 75 mg/L.

The experimental results showed that the uptake capacities

increase with initial heavy metal concentration. From the

equilibrium studies the adsorption capacity of zeolite for

cadmium qe = 25.5 mg/g was higher than that for chrome

qe = 19.75 mg/g. The uptake of both metals was decreased

when combined together with equal concentration in a

solution, 64 % decrease for cadmium qe = 9.5 mg/g and

31 % decrease for chromium qe = 13.5 mg/g.

A packed bed column was constructed by Taamneh and

Dwairi (2013) to estimate the capacity of NJ zeolite to

bring out nickel from aqueous solutions. The NJ zeolite

specimen was picked up from Jabal AL Aritayn discrete

(Jordan). The experimental results of adsorption process in

a packed bed column are used to bear out the accuracy of

Klinkenberg correlation model. The Klinkenberg equation

was employed to predict the effective diffusivity constant.

Baker et al. (2009) investigated the uptake capacity of heavy

metals ions likeCr3?, Cd2?, Cu2?, andPb2?usingNJzeolite for

batch and packed bed column at the following condition:

pH 3.0, volume of solution 1 L, temperature of 25 �C and

phillipsite dose5 g.The Jordanianphillipsite tuff presentedhigh

selectivity for the discharge of lead about 98 % achievedwithin

90 min, then chrome (III), copper, and cadmium about 96 %

removal achieved within 5 h. The adsorption capacity of

phillipsite tuff by assuming initial concentration of cadmium

30 mg/L was calculated about 0.24 mg Cd/g zeolite.

As concluded from literature review, NJ zeolites have

been used to eliminate different heavy metals ions from

prepared synthetic solution. But there has been no effort

devoted to correlate the experimental data with both

sorption isotherm and kinetics model. In this work, our aim

object is to investigate the adsorption process of cadmium

and copper on NJ zeolite and correlate the data with well-

known isotherms and kinetic model.

Materials and methods

Natural Jordanian zeolite (NJ zeolite)

The samples of natural zeolite were picked up from Al-

Mafraq area, northeast of Jordan. The bulk sample was

washed by distilled water to eliminate most of the surface

dust. Then the sample was crushed and sieved into two

different grain sizes (less than 0.4 mm and 0.4–4 mm). The

experiments were performed with grain size distribution

less than 0.4 mm in diameter. Their distribution was

measured using laser diffraction instrument (see Fig. 1).

2022 Appl Water Sci (2017) 7:2021–2028

123

X-ray diffraction was obtained before and after treatment

with sodium chloride. The chemical analyses composition

of NJ zeolite was given by Taamneh and Dwairi (2013).

Chemicals and adsorption studies

Cadmium and copper nitrate which have been diluted in

distilled water are used throughout the experiments. The

chemicals and reagent were supplied from Merck (Ger-

many) and of analytical grade using deionized water. The

concentrations of cadmium and copper solutions were

varied from 100 to 600 mg/L by diluting the stock solution.

The ion exchange process on NJ zeolite was accomplished

using the batch method. Throughout all the experiments,

the pH value was adjusted and kept constant using 0.1 N

NaOH. The glass bottles were then put on shaker for 24 h

to attain the equilibrium. 5 g of NJ zeolite was used in the

batch adsorption experiments with 250 mL of solutions

containing different heavy metal concentration at constant

pH. To have relatively clean samples for atomic absorption

spectrometer analyses, filter paper (Whatman No. 43) was

used. The concentration of metal ions in initial and final

solution was measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrome-

ter (AAS). The effects of concentration (100–600 mg/L),

adsorption dose (5–80 g) and contact time (1–60 min) were

estimated.

Sorption isotherm models

In this work, the batch adsorption technique was selected to

study the adsorption and kinetic models for cadmium and

copper uptake. The adsorption experimental results of

cadmium and copper on NJ zeolite were analyzed

according to well-known isotherm model (Freundlich and

Langmuir). The uptake of heavy metal through a sequence

of batch test was calculated using the following equation:

(a) (b)

(c)

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0 500 1000 1500

Q3q3

X(µm)

(d)

Fig. 1 a Crystallization, b pores shape, c particle size distribution, d raw materials of NJ zeolite

Appl Water Sci (2017) 7:2021–2028 2023

123

qe ¼Co � Ce

m=Vð1Þ

where qe is the weight of heavy metal uptake per unit of NJ

zeolite (mg/g); Co and Ce are the initial and equilibrium

concentration in the samples (mg/L), respectively; m is the

adsorbent mass (mg) and V is the aqueous volume (L).

Kinetic studies

The sorption kinetic results of cadmium and copper on the

NJ zeolite were analyzed according to first and second

sorption kinetic equation (Sevil and Bilge 2007). Samples

were sucked from the glass bottle every 2 min using glass

syringe. The remaining of cadmium and copper concen-

tration in the solution was also analyzed by AAS (atomic

absorption spectrophotometer).

Results and discussion

Effect of metal concentration

To find the optimum concentration, experimental studies

were carried out for a wide range of metal concentrations

between 100 and 600 mg/L. The capability of sorption

process was found to be stable and reached a maximum

value at concentration 100 mg/L. This is because the surface

where the adsorption occurs reaches its maximum uptake,

i.e. no more metal ions can be adsorbed. It is also clear from

Fig. 2 that the percentage of Cd and Cu removal decreases

by increasing initial metal concentration. This result pointed

out that with increasing metal concentration less favorable

spaces become involved in the aqueous solution.

In this study the metal ion uptake could be referred to

ion-exchange kinetics in the micro porous of NJ zeolite.

Metal ions had to move through the pores of the zeolite

mass as well as through channels of the lattice during the

ion-exchange process and they had to substitute their

cations. The adsorption percentage was larger for cadmium

compared with copper.

Effect of NJ zeolite volume

The effect of NJ zeolite load on the uptake efficiency of

cadmium and copper is presented in Fig. 3. The amount of

zeolite required for quantitative removal of cadmium and

copper from an initial metal concentration 7 mg/L was

found to be 30 mg.

The adsorption percentage increased with zeolite mass

in case of both cadmium and copper and when the adsor-

bent reaches beyond 30 mg became steady. The adsorption

percentage was found to be 46, 15.5 % in the case of

cadmium and copper, respectively, for identical zeolite

dose (1 mg). It is clear that the uptake efficiency of cad-

mium and copper increases with the concentration of NJ

zeolite. The reason for this may be the surface area of the

zeolite at higher mass concentration of zeolite is more

available. Therefore, the heavy metal ions have the possi-

bility to exchange their sites over a large available surface

area.

Effect of contact time

The effect of contact time on adsorption efficiency is

depicted in Fig. 4. It is clear from Fig. 4 that the contact

time needed to reach the maximum removal of metal by NJ

zeolite was dependent on the type of heavy metal. From the

economic system point of view, the role of the equilibrium

time assessment is very important especially in many

wastewater treatment applications. The equilibrium

adsorption was attained through 20 min for both cadmium

0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0,7

0,8

0,9

1

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Ads

orpt

ion

%

Co (mg/l)

Cd

Cu

Fig. 2 Removal efficiency of heavy metal (Cd and Cu) on NJ zeolite.

mz = 5 g, V = 250 ml, pH 6, time 24 h

Fig. 3 Heavy metal removal (Cd and Cu) as a function adsorbent

dose (NJ zeolite). Co = 7 mg/L, V = 25 mL, pH 6, time 24 h

2024 Appl Water Sci (2017) 7:2021–2028

123

and copper metal and the equilibrium adsorption were

determined at 80 and 68 mg/g (Fig. 4).

Adsorption isotherms

Freundlich empirical equation

Although the model was first proposed extensively as an

empirical equation by Freundlich (1932), many other

researchers used it. Currently, Freundlich model is used in

organic compounds or high-selectivity species on activated

charcoal and molecular sieves. Freundlich empirical can be

given by:

qe ¼ kFC1=ne ð2Þ

The parameters kF and 1/n are Freundlich constant and

sorption intensity, respectively, and these two parameters

are dependent on temperature. By taking the natural

logarithm of both side of Eq. 2 we get:

log qe ¼ log kF þ1

nlogCe ð3Þ

The two parameters of Freundlich model can be

calculated for cadmium and copper from the slope and

intercept of the linear plot (see Table 1). The experimental

data are fitted according to the linear form of Eq. (2).

qe ¼ 20C5:25e r2 ¼ 0:98 for Cd ð4Þ

qe ¼ 11C4:4e r2 ¼ 0:96 for Cu ð5Þ

Langmuir equation

Langmuir models primarily developed to demonstrate gas–

solid phase adsorption onto activated charcoal and it has

conventionally been used to assess the performance of

different adsorption systems including solid liquid systems.

Langmuir model supposes monolayer adsorption, i.e. all

the adsorbed molecules are in contact with the surface layer

of the adsorbent. This model is presented by:

qe ¼QmkCe

1þ kCe

ð6Þ

where qe and Ce are the equilibrium concentration of

cadmium or copper in the JN zeolite and aqueous solution

in mg/g and mg/L, respectively, Qm is the sorption

capacity, k is the energy of sorption constant. The linear

form of Langmuir isotherm equation is given by:

Ce

qe¼ 1

kQm

þ Ce

Qm

ð7Þ

The Langmuir isotherm linear equation for cadmium

and copper adsorption on NJ zeolite is given by:

Ce

qe¼ 0:00421þ 0:04Ce r2 ¼ 0:98 for Cd ð8Þ

Ce

qe¼ 0:0095þ 0:0699Ce r2 ¼ 0:97 for Cu ð9Þ

The Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm parameters

and the statistical fits of cadmium and copper adsorption

using NJ Zeolite are presented in Table 1. It is very

important to analyze the experimental data in terms of

Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm sorption models. The

sorption constant and regression coefficient for both

Freundlich and Langmuir sorption model are given in

Table 1. The comparison between the experimental

adsorption results with the empirical isotherm models

(Freundlich and Langmuir model) on cadmium and

copper using NJ zeolite sorbent are depicted in Fig. 5. It

can be noted from Fig. 5 that the adsorption

experimental results are better fitted to Freundlich

isotherm model than to Langmuir isotherm model. The

calculated sorption capacities for cadmium and copper

fitted to Langmuir linear equation were 25.9 and

14.3 mg/g, respectively. The parameters kF and n were

calculated by linear Freundlich equation from

experimental sorption data as 20, 5.2 for cadmium and

11, 4.4 for copper (see Table 1).

Fig. 4 Variation of heavy metal removal (Cd, Cu) on NJ zeolite as

function of contact time: Co = 7 mg/L, V = 25 ml, pH 6, time 24 h

Table 1 Freundlich and Langmuir constant

Cadmium Copper

Freundlich isotherm constant

KF 20 11

n 5.2 4.4

r2 0.98 0.97

Langmuir isotherm constant

Qm 25.9 14.3

k 9.5 7.36

r2 0.97 0.98

Appl Water Sci (2017) 7:2021–2028 2025

123

Sorption kinetic models

The amount of cadmium and copper adsorbed, qt, at time t

was calculated from the following equation:

qt ¼Co � Ce

m=Vð10Þ

The removal of copper and cadmium from zeolite as a

function of time can be mathematically expressed in terms

of different kinetic adsorption models such as:

Pseudo-first-order kinetic model (Langerhans rate

equation)

Pseudo-first-order kinetic model supposes that the rate of

change of adsorbate uptake with time is directly propor-

tional to the difference in the equilibrium concentration and

the amount of adsorbate uptake with time (Ho and McKay

1998). The kinetic rate in differential form Eq. (11) and

after integration Eq. (12) is obtained:

dqt

dt¼ k1ðqe � qtÞ ð11Þ

lnðqe � qtÞ ¼ �k1t þ ln qe ð12Þ

Pesudo-second-order kinetic model

In this model (Ho et al. 1996), the kinetic rate in differ-

ential form and it is analytical solution can be expressed as

dqt

dt¼ k2ðqe � qtÞ2 ð13Þ

t

qt¼ 1

k2q2eþ t

qeð14Þ

To estimate the adsorption rate constant of cadmium and

copper, the first-order model was used. The rate constant

(k1) for cadmium and copper adsorption onto NJ zeolite

were 0.5145, 0.325, respectively. Meanwhile the second-

order reaction rate constant (k2) for cadmium and copper

adsorption onto NJ zeolite were 2.32145, 1.716,

respectively.

The time dependency of removal rate of cadmium and

copper on NJ zeolite are shown in Fig. 6. The kinetic rate

study of cadmium and copper on NJ zeolite was carried out

with different time, at room temperature 22� C, constantmetal concentration 250 mg/L, 80 g of NJ zeolite and

pH 6. The value of the first and second reaction rate con-

stant (k1, k2) obtained from sorption kinetic models are

used to correlate experimental data on NJ zeolite. It can be

noted that the second reaction constant has higher value for

the sorption kinetic of cadmium and copper on NJ zeolite.

It is clear from values of second-order constant that cad-

mium and copper sorption onto the NJ zeolite follows the

second-order model. Thus, rate of sorption according to the

second-order model for cadmium and copper are faster

than first-order model. For example, the cadmium uptake

capacities were completed within 10 min. Meanwhile, the

copper uptake capacity completed within 20 min. Figure 6

shows that cadmium metal has higher uptake capacity than

copper. As a result of sorption kinetic, the second-order

model can demonstrate the sorption process and very well

correlated with the experimental results. Therefore, the

second-order equation is valuable for the kinetic sorption

studied in this work.

Conclusion

The adsorption capacity of cadmium and copper using NJ

zeolite has been experimentally investigated. It was con-

cluded that metal bulk concentration, adsorption time and

mass of adsorbent, are an important factors that affect the

Fig. 5 Adsorption isotherms experimental data of cadmium and

copper on NJ zeolite compared with Freundlich and Langmuir

isotherm model at the same condition

0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

q t(m

g/g)

t/min

Cd

Cu

Pseudo 2nd order

Pseudo 1st order

Fig. 6 Sorption kinetic experimental data of cadmium and copper on

NJ zeolite compared with first- and second-order model at the same

condition

2026 Appl Water Sci (2017) 7:2021–2028

123

adsorption process. These parameters had a considerable

trace on the uptake of cadmium and copper metal using NJ

zeolite. A widely used isotherm and kinetic models to

present study to estimate the equation parameters were

employed.

The Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms models are

used to describe the experimental adsorption results

meanwhile the pseudo-first- and second-order kinetics

model are used for kinetic rate elaboration. It was set that

the Freundlich empirical is well demonstrated and fitting

the experimental results. The metal ion uptake capacities

for cadmium and copper were 25.9 and 14.3 mg/g,

respectively. The calculated adsorption intensity parameter

correlated to Langmuir isotherm model for cadmium and

copper are 9.5 and 7.36, respectively. Cadmium and copper

adsorption from aqueous solution using NJ zeolite was well

demonstrated with the second-order kinetic model. The

experimental adsorption data were better adequate to the

second-order model than to the first-order model. As a

result of this study, the NJ zeolite for the removal of

cadmium and copper using a batch adsorption technique

has inherent advantages.

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